y wanted to tell her that she wouldn't for the world trade the jolly
afternoon they had had together for any swimming match, but _she_
couldn't find the right words, so each just kissed the other, wondering
why she was so happy!

"I'm going to walk on crutches Sunday, Jerry."

"Oh, great! It will only be a little while before you're back in school,
Isobel."

"Good-night, Jerry."

"Good-night, Isobel!"

CHAPTER XXIII

THE THIRD VIOLINIST

"Hello! Is that you, Gyp? I want Centre 2115, please. Is this Mr.
Westley's house? Is that _you_, Gyp?.... This is Pat Everett.
_Listen_----" came excitedly over the wire, though Gyp was listening as
hard as she could. "Peg and I've found _the black-and-white man_!"

Gyp declared, afterwards, that the announcement had made her tingle to
her toes! Immediately she corralled Jerry, whom she found translating
Latin with a dictionary on her lap and a terrible frown on her brow, and
together they hurried to Pat's house. It was a soft May evening--the air
was filled with the throaty twitter of robins, the trees arched feathery
green against the twilight sky. Pat and Peggy sat bareheaded on the
steps of the Everett house, waiting for them. A great fragrant flowering
honeysuckle brushed their shoulders. A more perfect setting could not
have been found for the finish of their conspiracy.

Pat plunged straight into her story.

"Peg and I were coming back from Dalton's book store and we ran bang
into the man--he'd taken his hat off 'cause it was so warm and was
fanning himself with it. We both saw it at exactly the same moment and
we just turned and clutched each other and _almost_ yelled."

"And then, what? Why didn't you grab him?"

"As if we could lay our hands on a perfect stranger! Anyway, we've got
to be tactful. But I'm _sure_ it's the one--there was a white streak
that ran right back from the front of his face. And he was very
handsome, too--at least we decided he would be if we were as old as Miss
Gray. _I_ thought he was a little--oh, biggish."

"And to think how we've hunted for him and he was right here----" Then
Gyp realized that Pat did _not_ have the gentleman in her pocket.

"But how will we find him again?"

"We followed him--and he went into the Morse Building and got into the
elevator and we were going right in after him when who pops out but Dr.
Caton, and he looked so surprised to see us that we hesitated, and the
old elevator boy shut the door in our